ERANTHEMUM 



ERIANTHUS 



539 



their foliage. Probably many of them belong in other genera. 

 E. albo-margindtum. Lvs. broadly margined with white and 

 irregularly suffused gray. E. atrosanguineum, Hort. Int. by 

 W. Bull, 1875. Lvs. large, dark wine-purple, or blackish crim- 

 son, ovate entii'e, opposite, stalked. Said to endure the hottest 

 sunshine. -E. cultrdtum. "Lvs. shining, thick, deep-veined." 

 E. Eldorado. Lvs, greenish yellow, veins deeper yellow. E. 

 nerium rubrum of Pitcher & Manda's catalogue, presumably 

 a misprint for nervum-rubrum, has Ivs. "irregularly shaped, 

 shaded with light and dark green, and blotched with yellow, 

 which darkens to reddish purple." Possibly = Fittonia Ver- 

 schaffeltii. E. nigrescens. Presumably with blackish Ivs. E. 

 purpureum. "Lvs. and stems dark, lurid purple." Siebrecht 

 & Wadley. 



The following trade names are accounted for in other genera: 

 E. igneum. See Chamaeranthemum. E. nervosum and pul- 

 chellum. See Dsedalacanthus. \y. M. 



ERANTHIS (Greek, er, spring, and anthos, a flower; 

 from the early opening of the flowers). Ranunculacece . 

 WINTER ACONITE. Low perennial herbs, with tuberous 

 rootstock: basal Ivs. palraately dissected, one stem-leaf 

 sessile or amplexicaul just beneath the large yellow 

 fl. : sepals 5-8, petal-like; petals small, 2-lipped necta- 

 ries ; stamens numerous ; carpels few, stalked, rnany- 

 ovuled, becoming follicles. About 7 species, natives of 

 Europe and Asia. Very hardy, and at home in half- 

 shady places, among 

 shrubs or in the bor- 

 der; very desirable be- 

 cause of the very early, 

 bright fls. Prop, by 

 division of roots. The 

 place where the tubers 

 are planted should be 

 marked during the sum- 

 mer, when the foliage is 

 dead. 



The earliest generic 

 name is Cfimmarum, 

 which was given in 

 Hill's British Herbal, 

 p. 47, pi. 7 (1756), or 

 51 years before Salis- 

 bury made the name 

 Eranthis. 



hyemalis, Salisb. 

 (Helleborus hyemalis", 

 Linn.). Fig. 770. Erect, 

 5-8 in. : basal Ivs. long- 

 petioled : involucre 12- 

 15-parted, the bright 

 yellow-fls. always ses- 

 sile; anthers oblong. Jan. -March. Naturalized from 

 Eu. B.M. 3. Mn. 8:43. G.C. II. 11:245. 



Var. Cilicica, Huth. (E. Cilicica, Schott & Kotschy). 

 Much like the above. Involucre of deeper and more 

 numerous lobes: anthers ovate instead of oblong; se- 

 pals broader, being about % in. across; follicles always 

 straight. Season a few weeks later. The stems, when 

 grown in gardens, said to be red-brown. Roots of this 

 were first sent to England from its native home near 

 Smyrna in 1892. Rare in Amer. G.C. III. 13:266. Gn. 

 45, p. 192 (note). 



Sibirica, DC. Much dwarfer, seldom over 3-4 in. 

 high: fls. bright yellow, a little smaller than those of E. 

 hyemalis, 5-sepaled. Siberia. 



J. B. KELLER and K. C. DAVIS. 



EREMtTKTJS (Greek name, probably deferring to their 

 tall and striking aspect in solitary and desert places). 

 Liliacece. These hardy desert plants when in flower, 

 with their great flower-stalks taller than a man, and 

 crowned with a spike of fls. from 1-4 ft. long, are 

 amongst the most striking spectacles in the choicer 

 gardens of the North and East. Their roots are clusters 

 of fleshy fibers : their Ivs. all from the root, in dense 

 rosettes, long and linear: fls. white, yellow or rosy; 

 perianth bell-shaped or more widely spreading, wither- 

 ing and persisting or finally dropping away; segments 

 distinct or very slightly united at the base; stamens 6: 

 ovary 3-celled; seeds 1-4 in each cell, 3-angled. 



W. M. 



E. robustus and E. Himalaicus are probably the hardi- 



770. Eranthis hyemalis. 



est of all the tall, desert-inhabiting plants of the Lily 

 family a family including the Poker Plant, the Aloes, 

 the Yuccas, and many others that are not so tall and strik- 

 ing in appearance or else too tender to grow outdoors in 

 the North. Large specimens of E. robustus will annually 

 produce a flower-stalk 8 ft. or more high, with racemes 

 4 ft. long, remaining in bloom for a month. After flow- 

 ering the Ivs. disappear entirely, but early in spring 

 they reappear, and should then be covered with a box 

 or barrel, to protect the forming flower-stalk from late 

 frosts. A mound of ashes over the crown in winter is 

 advisable, or a box with water-tight top filled with dry 

 leaves. Both species like a rich soil, moist but well 

 drained, and plenty of water in the flowering: period, 

 but none afterwards. Prop, by division, or slowly by 

 seeds. Large plants are expensive, but they can some- 

 times be obtained large enough to flower within a year 

 or so of purchase. It tries one's patience to wait for 

 seedlings to reach flowering size. The flowers look like 

 small stars. w> a EGAN 



A. Flowers rosy. 

 B. Lvs. linear -ligulate. 



robustui, Regel. Root-fibers thick and fleshy: Ivs. 

 glaucous, glabrous, linear-ligulate, 2 ft. long, l>2-2 in. 

 wide, roughish on the margin, with minute recurved 

 teeth: raceme 4-4% in. wide: stamens about as long as 

 the perianth. Turkestan. B.M. 6726. Gng. 6:52, 324. 

 Gn. 46, p. 335. Mn. 8:123. J.H. III. 29:267. 



BB. Lvs. ovate-lanceolate. 



Elwesii, Micheli (E. fflwesianus^ort.). Lvs. light 

 green, ovate-lanceolate, obtuse, flat, not at all rough at 

 the margin, shorter than in E. robustus, nearly trian- 

 gular, even more glaucous, and beginning to decay at 

 the time of flowering : perianth segments with a band of 

 deeper color down the middle. Habitat? R.H. 1897:280. 

 Gn. 54, p. 99. G.C. III. 24: 137. -Int. by Leichtlin as D. 

 robustus, var. Elwesii. 



AA. Flowers white. 



Himalaicus, Baker. Root-fibers thick and fleshy: Ivs. 

 9-12, ligulate, firm, persistent, 1-1K ft. long, 6-15 lines 

 wide above the middle: raceme 3-3 % in. wide: stamens 

 about as long as the perianth. Himal. B.M. 7076. Gn. 

 49, p. 131. G.C. II. 16:49. 



AAA. Fls. some shade of yellow. 



B. Color light yellow. 



spectabilis, Bieb. Root-fibers thick and fleshy: Ivs. 

 6-15, lorate, slightly glaucous, 12-18 in. long, 6-12 lines 

 wide above the middle, noticeably narrowed at the base : 

 raceme 1-1% ft. long, 2 in. wide : stamens orange, 

 finally twice as long as the perianth. Asia Minor, 

 Persia. B.M. 4870. 



BB. Color pure yellow or orange. 

 Bungei, Baker. Lvs. contemporary with the fls., 

 linear, 1 ft. long, less than 3 lines wide: raceme 4-5 in. 

 long, 2 in. wide : stamens finally twice as long as the 

 perianth. Persia. Var. perfectus, Hort., is sold. 



BBB. Color orange. 



aurantiacus, Baker. Closely allied to E. Bungei, but 

 live plants have less acutely keeled Ivs.: root-fibers 

 tapering upwards, and orange fls. and stamens. Bokhara, 

 Turkestan. B.M. 7113. w. M. 



EKlANTHUS (Greek, woolly flower). Graminece. 

 WOOLLY BEARD GRASS. PLUME GRASS. Tall and stout 

 reed-like perennials, with the spikes crowded in a pani- 

 cle and clothed with long, silky hairs, especially in a 

 tuft around the base of each spikelet. Spikelets in pairs, 

 one sessile, the other pedicellate. Glumes 4, the fourth 

 enclosing a hermaphrodite flower and awned. Species 

 about 18, in the warmer regions of both hemispheres. 



Erianthus Ravenna, is the best hardy substitute for 

 the pampas grass, which is the most famous of all tall, 

 plumy grasses. For general purposes and for aquatic 

 groups and bedding it has no peers in the North except 

 Arundo Donax and a few tall bamboos. These latter, 

 however, are grown for their foliage effects, and while 

 the plumes of Arundo are highly ornamental, they are 

 only an incident in the North, where frost of ten cuts down 



